In a meeting with the Bishops of the United States in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said: “What is needed above all, at this time in the history of the church in America, is a renewal of that apostolic zeal which inspires her shepherds actively to seek out the lost, to bind up those who have been wounded, and to bring strength to those who are languishing. And this, as I have said, calls for new ways of thinking based on a sound diagnosis of today’s challenges and a commitment to unity in the service of the church’s mission to the present generation.”

The point the Holy Father was making to our bishops when he made these comments was that the Church in the United States – and, in reality, in many places around the world – was in great need of experiencing a revival. The Church is in need of a renewal, a return to the basics of our faith, a boldness in embracing and using the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and a zeal, a passion for going out and sharing the Gospel message.

If we look at the state of the Church over the last several years – and I mean the Church in general – this need for revival has become more and more evident. Just look at the reality that we face: attendance at Mass is plummeting, many Catholics are not publicly living their faith, priestly and religious vocations are at an all-time low, a historic number of Catholics are leaving the Church, and many of our young people are facing difficulties in accepting the truth of the Gospel and failing to develop a relationship with Jesus. (As a result, we have a lot of young people, including some here at Mass today, who don’t believe God even exists.)

We also see that a great number Catholics who do attend Mass are struggling to believe in some of the central teachings of our faith, including the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Y’all, we have brothers and sisters who come to Mass with some regularity who don’t believe that the bread and wine that are offered on this very altar are transformed into the very Body and Blood of Jesus. That’s what makes us Catholic above all else. That should make us all pause and have serious concern for the future of our Church.

If we don’t get our house in order, if we don’t return to the basics, if we don’t get back to focusing on the truth of the Gospel, we will have failed…failed the next generation…failed ourselves…failed the Church…we will have failed the Lord…failed in the greatest responsibility that God has given us: sharing the Gospel…preaching the Good News…bringing others to an encounter with Christ.

Our second reading today from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Church in Corinth reminds us of this great responsibility that we have all received. He says: “If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it!” He’s reminding us that we don’t have a choice. As Christians, as followers of Jesus, the Lord has given us an obligation to go out and preach, to share the Good News of God’s salvation…sharing that with everyone. We see it throughout Scripture, in the things Jesus said to His disciples, the words He preached, the calls to action that He gave those who listened to Him.  Remember, what was the Lord’s last command to His apostles? Right before He ascended into Heaven, the Lord said to them: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Every single one of us, every single Christian is called to be an evangelizer, is called to be a missionary. And we have that responsibility because of our baptisms. We were baptized priest, prophet, and king. As priests we are called to be the bridge that brings others to experience God and to point others to holiness. As prophets, we are called to be beacons of light that point others to the Truth. As kings, we are called to establish the kingdom of God on earth and to live our faith publicly.

Through our reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation, we have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit to fully embrace that calling and to fulfill that obligation. We are given the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit. God has equipped us with the things that we need to become His messengers. It is God who will work through us…we just have to give Him a chance. We just have to be receptive to what He wants to do in and through us.

But how do we get there? It starts when our knees hit the floor…it starts in prayer…it starts with our own encounters with the Lord.

Yes, all of us are called to go out and share with others our experiences with the Lord, to share about how we have encountered His love, His mercy, His grace; how He has led us to a moment of transformation; how He has changed our lives. But we can’t do that if we first haven’t encountered Him, if we first haven’t met Him, if He has, in fact, not changed our lives.

We can come to Mass each and every week, hear the Gospel being proclaimed, hear the stories of how God has acted in our human story for centuries and generations…but if we don’t let those stories, if we don’t let the Good News penetrate our hearts, if we don’t embrace the message of salvation, if we don’t accept that into our hearts and let it change us…then what are we doing here?

We need a radical receptivity to God’s Word. We need to give the Lord permission to enter our hearts, to give Him access to our lives. We need to work to know the Lord…to not just know about Him and the good works that He performed…we need to know Him – to spend time with Him, to read about Him in Scripture, to ask Him how He wants to work within our hearts, to follow Him where He wants to lead us, to seek to do His will in all things. We need to listen to the words that He speaks to us, to understand how He wants to change our lives. We have to put in the work. We have to pray. We have to have a personal relationship with God.

In the Gospel, there is one small line that we might have skipped over today, maybe thought it insignificant to the overall message. But, in actuality, it’s the most important line in the entirety of the Gospels. It is an example that Jesus shows us.

“Rising very early before dawn, he [Jesus] left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.”

Jesus knew how important His relationship with His Father was…it was the lifeblood that sustained Him, it was what allowed Him to do the things He did, it was what gave Him the strength to persevere in His mission. It must be ours as well.

If we truly want to be the messengers of the Gospel that we are called to be, if we want to bring others the Good News, if we want to be those missionary disciples, if we want to bring the Church to experience that revival, that renewal which is so desperately needed, we have to spend time with the Lord. So this week, let’s commit to spending a few extra minutes each day in prayer with the God who created us, the God who loves us. Let’s give Him a little bit of our time, let’s seek to encounter Him in our hearts, let’s welcome Him anew…because in the end, it might just change our lives and it might just change the world.

Painting: Apostle Paul Preaching on the Ruins, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1744, Italy. In the collection of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Used under public domain. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. Wikimedia Commons.